Title: Hitmen

Author: vashsunglasses

Fandom: The Magnificent Seven

AU: The Hitmen Universe (Status-Closed without express permission from me until the story is finished. If you really want to write something, please ask, I'm a nice girl and will probably say yes as long as you link back to me and this story.)

Rating: T

Summary: AU Las Vegas is home to group of seven professional hitmen.

Disclaimer: I don't own "The Magnificent Seven" in any of its incarnations. I am not a hitman and I know nothing about assassination techniques or weapons so don't be too hard on me if I get something wrong. I am making no money from this writing and do this for my own personal enjoyment only.

Warning: The fic contains graphic violence and criminal behavior. This chapter contains some pretty salty words…

Hitmen Chapter Two

Las Vegas 10:58PM

A Nice Neighborhood on the East Side

A big white Suburban pulled up to the curb in front of an ordinary looking home with grass in the front yard and average neighbors on either side. Two men climbed out of the car and walked up the sidewalk to the front door which was opened before they got to it by a man in a wheel chair who spoke to the two men as they entered the dwelling. "So, how'd it go?"

Chris answered him as he sat down on the couch and pulled off his shoes. "We got him, but we almost didn't. There was a woman hanging off his arm and blocking the shot. If she hadn't moved, we would have had to find another shot."

Vin smirked as he kicked off his shoes and walked towards the kitchen, "Yeah, it's a good thing you weren't there Buck, you being so soft on women and all…"

Buck scoffed and shut the door. "There's nothing wrong with respecting a woman."

"So that's what you call it!" Vin smirked to himself as he opened the refrigerator and looked inside.

Buck looked over to where Chris was lounging and waved his hand to indicate the wheelchair he was sitting in, "Let's just say that I thank the Lord every night that the paralysis only goes up to my thighs." He grinned wickedly and wheeled past the couch running over one of Chris' feet as he went by, "And that women seem to really dig my 'poor crippled me' act."

Chris grimaced and grabbed his injured foot, "Well, at least someone falls for that crap. A cold blooded killer like me can't be bothered to care."

Buck stuck out his tongue then muttered, "Jerk. Why I put up with you I'll never know."

"Someone's got to do the finances and manage the clients, Buck. It might as well be you." Chris dropped his foot and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes and groaning with relief as the kinks in his back began to work themselves out.

Vin poked his head back into the room, "Y'all want a beer?"

"Nah." Chris stretched and got up, slowly making his way to the bathroom with a slight frown on his face.

"What's up with him?" Buck asked.

Vin shrugged, "Dunno. He's been like that since we met at the rendezvous point after the job." He handed a beer to Buck, then leaned his head back and took a few swift gulps of his own.

Buck frowned at the closed bathroom door. "Damn, he must be having another one of his guilt trips…"

Vin snorted, "You know, that man has to be the most sympathetic sociopath I've ever met…"

Buck tipped his beer at Vin and took a sip, "He's definitely unique, I give you that."

For a moment the room was silent as both men drank their beers with thoughtful expressions on their faces. Vin tried to find a way to change the subject to something less confusing then their erstwhile boss, "So what's the news on our competition?"

Buck's face dropped into a frown, "Two hits on the west side last night."

Vin choked on his beer, and it took him a moment to catch his breath enough to ask, "Two?" There was a nod in reply, "Damn. You sure?"

Buck seemed to ponder it for a moment, as if trying to puzzle out some mystery that kept eluding him, "Actually, one of the hits was pretty strange."

"What kind of strange?"

The man in the wheelchair's voice was flat, "Throat was slit."

Vin's eyes widened and he blurted out, "Ezra's crew never slit throats. It's all explosives and arson for them…"

"I know… But the police found an Ace of Spades on the body. Ezra always leaves his calling card where the cops can find it, you know that." Buck finished, and then took another swallow of his beer.

Chris spoke from where he was leaning on the door frame of room. The other two men had been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't heard him come in. "Maybe it was a special job?"

Buck shrugged unwillingly, "Maybe…"

Vin smirked as he contemplated his friend's secretive nature. Sometimes it almost took wild horses to drag information out of him, but most of the time it was worth it, "But you don't think so, do you? There was something else, wasn't there?"

"Which is what?" Chris narrowed his eyes at Buck.

Buck looked away from his friends' inquisitive stares, but gave them what they wanted, "The hit was a small time gang leader. Ezra always goes after the big wigs."

Vin rolled his eyes in disappointment, "So it's a copy cat. So what. Whoever it is will get sloppy and get caught. No big deal." He walked back into the living room and turned on the TV, grumbling to himself about idiotic friends.

Chris noticed that his friend's frown still hadn't left his face and asked, "You don't agree?"

"Something about it just sticks in my paw I guess… I know it's nothing important, but it just keeps popping into my head." He shrugged and threw his beer bottle towards the trash can, grinning in victory as it went in without touching the sides.

Chris continued to glare at Buck, "Another Buck Wilmington gut special huh? Just don't do anything stupid and get us caught, OK?"

Buck put an exaggerated look of offence on his face and waved his arms, "Hey! This is me we're talking about here!"

Chris just glared even harder, "That's what I'm afraid of."

A loud voice roared out from the couch, "Could you two keep it down! I'm trying to watch TV here!"

The two men let the conversation drop and went to join their friend on the couch, unaware of how this one strange hit would change all of their lives.

Las Vegas 11:24PM

An Expensive Apartment Building on the West Side

In a large, lavish apartment across town from where three friends watched TV, another three men were sitting around a table. Ezra Standish slammed his copy of that evening's Review Journal on the table and screamed, "Who the fuck do they think they are?"

Nathan Jackson, a tall man wearing a white lab coat over his normal clothes, put his hand on Ezra's arm and spoke softly to him, "Don't get so worked up. It's just a small time thug thinking to cover his tracks by borrowing our glory."

"Everyone starts out somewhere…" The third man, Josiah Sanchez, spoke up gruffly from behind the large Bible he was studying out of.

Ezra smirked bitterly, "Then let them start out somewhere else! We already have enough trouble with those trigger happy cretins on the east side, the last thing we need is to have our good name dragged through the mud by some delinquent trying to make a name for himself!" He dragged his hands through his perfect hair in rage, messing it up.

Nathan spoke up once more, "From what I hear, this wasn't a messy killing. The cut was made with surgical precision and the police haven't found any evidence to link the kill to any suspects. Whomever it was who did this, they know their stuff."

Josiah put down his Bible and his deep voice rumbled thoughtfully, "Do you think it could be the 'trigger happy cretins' as you put it, trying to take us down? They have been getting more and more bold lately. Apparently there was a man shot only a few hours ago in the middle of a busy intersection."

"Slit throats just aren't their style." Ezra groaned, "It has to be someone else."

Frustration finally began to cross Nathan's face, "Not that this isn't entertaining, but can we get back to the task at hand? We promised to have Larry Douglas brought down by next week and we still haven't found an opening."

Ezra's shoulders relaxed and a grin lit his face as he thought about what they could do, "Gentlemen, I've been thinking long and hard about it and I think I have an answer."

Note: Sorry, but this is about as long as my chapters get…